NOVEMBER 30, 2002
BOB ZIADIE
KING
’S
FOOTBALL FALLS SHORT TO BRIDGEWATER IN NCAA PLAYOFFS, 19-17
BRIDGEWATER, VA – In the sport of football, dominating a game from a
statistical standpoint does not always translate into victories. For the
King's College football squad, that fact became painfully true.
Matt VonTanhausen’s 32-yard field goal into a stiff wind
fell
just inches short as the King’s College football team saw its season
come to an abrupt end by a 19-17 margin to
host Bridgewater College in the NCAA
Division III national playoffs in Bridgewater, Va.
With the win, Bridgewater, the second-ranked team nationally in
Division III,
improved to 11-0 on the
year. The Monarchs concluded its season with a program
best 9-3 mark and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in
school history. The Eagles advance to the
Elite Eight and will host Trinity University
(Tx) in the quarterfinal round.
The Monarchs would attempt to win the game when it assumed its final
possession at its own 30-yard line with 7:00
remaining in the contest. A 10-yard
completion from David Hessler to Ryan Gennaro gave the Monarchs a first
down at its own 43. Hessler hit Harry Dickey for eight yards and later
found Geoff Ashton for 15 yards and a first
down at the Bridgewater 32.
King’s would later face a fourth-and-five plat where Hessler hit Mike
Novia
for a first down at the Eagle 17.
On the next play, however, the Monarchs were
flagged for holding, pushing the ball back to the Bridgewater 27. After
a pair of incomplete passes, Hessler found
Ashton for 12 yards as the
Monarchs faced a fourth-and-eight play from the Eagle 15. After a King’s
timeout, coach Rich Mannello sent out the
field goal team where VonTanhausen lined
up for a 32-yard attempt into a stiff wind. The kick sailed straight,
but was unable to slice its way through the
wind and fell just short of the cross
bar allowing the Eagles to hold on to the victory.
King’s came out of the gates fast and on the first possession of the
game.
Richard Jackson’s 48-yard run
to the Bridgewater 19 put the Monarchs in scoring
position. But the drive stalled and VonTanhausen’s field goal into
the wind side wide as King’s came away
empty-handed.
The Monarchs would force a punt and took over at its own 40-yard line.
An
11-yard pass from Hessler to Dickey
was followed by a 42-yard pass to Rispoli at
the Eagle seven. On the next play, Jackson raced off tackle into the end
zone to put King’s on top. VonTanhausen’s
kick gave King’s a 7-0 lead with 11:31
remaining in the first quarter.
Two possessions later, the Monarchs were forced to punt from their own
35-yard line and Stewart White blocked
VonTanhausen’s kick. Adrian Herndon scooped
up the loose ball and returned 27 yards to the King’s three. On the
first play, Jamie Long rushed off left tackle
and into the end zone for the Eagles.
Kyle Beach kicked the point-after to tie the score at 7-7 with 7:28
remaining in the first quarter.
King’s would respond immediately when Jackson rushed for 18 yards
followed by
an 11-yard pass to Rispoli,
giving King’s a first down at the Bridgewater 31.
After consecutive runs of six and three yards, Jackson broke free and
raced
down the left sideline for a
22-yard touchdown run. VonTanhausen’s kick gave
King’s a 14-7 lead with 4:16 remaining in the opening quarter.
Bridgewater would attempt to counter but the Monarch defense forced the
Eagles to punt. From there, King’s would
attempt to block the kick, but a Monarch
defender rolled into punter Chad Coffey to force a roughing call and
give the Eagles a first down at its own 46.
Two plays latter, quarterback Robbie
Jenkins lofted 54-yard touchdown pass to Brian Ratliff to bring the
Eagles to within a point. The snap on the extra point kick was low and
Beach’s conversion kick was blocked as King’s
clung to a 14-13 lead with 2:36 left in
the opening quarter.
King’s was forced to punt from deep in its own territory and
VonTanhausen
corralled a high snap and
avoided a blocked kick but his punt would travel just
15 yards, giving the Eagles possession at the Monarch 37. After an
incomplete pass and a one-yard run, Jenkins capitalized on a King’s
blitz and
found a wide-open Andrew
Jones on a short post pattern over the middle for a 36-yard
scoring play with 14:51 left in the half. Bridgewater’s two-point
conversion attempt failed but the Eagle would
take a 19-14 lead into the half-time
break
In the third quarter, the Monarchs would take over at its own 42
following an
Eagle punt and put
together an attempted scoring drive. Jackson would carry six
times fro 42 yards but the drive would stall at the Eagle 11. From there,
VonTanhausen connected on a 28-yard attempt to
bring the Monarchs to within 19-17 with
8:38 left in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, King’s created another scoring chance when it
drove to
the Bridgewater 33-yard line.
Two runs by Jackson netted six yards before Novia
was stopped for no gain. On fourth-and four from the Eagle 27, Jackson
was stuffed at the line o scrimmage and
Bridgewater assumed possession with 8:32 left.
The Monarch defense again forced an Eagle punt and King’s would
attempt its
final drive of the contest.
The Monarchs owned a huge statistical advantage over Bridgewater as
King’s
held a dominating 376-to-210
advantage in total yards whole holding a commanding
20-to-10 advantage in first downs.
But King's failed to execute several times when in scoring position as
Bridgewater's "bend-but-don't-break" philosophy. The
Monarchs, however, also hurt themselves
with rare special teams mistakes that ultimately weighed in Bridgewater’s
favor.
The Monarch defense turned in another outstanding effort in defeat,
holding
Bridgewater far below its 41.0
points per-game average. King’s also held the Eagles
to a paltry 18 rushing yards on 36 carries, well below its NCAA 12th
best 243.8 yards on the ground per-game
average. Bridgewater’s 210 yards of total
offense was 253 yards below its season overage of 463.8.
Conversely, King’s amassed 252 rushing yards against a Bridgewater
defense
that was ranked 20th nationally
in yielding just 93.7 yards per-game. Jackson
was brilliant with career highs of 259 yards on 45 carries with two
scores.
Defensively, Rubin Doster topped the
Monarchs with nine tackles, including
three for losses. Sean Frasier and Ken Kozminski had seven tackles each
while Chris Keene, Steven Wilson, and Derek Zambino all had six tackles.
King’s had 19 tackles for losses and six
sacks.